Micah’s Idolatry

1Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” 3He then returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly consecrate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast metal image; so now I will return [a]them to you.” 4So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made [b]them into a carved image and a cast metal image, and [c]they were in the house of Micah. 5And the man Micah had a [d]shrine and he made an ephod and [e]household idols, and [f]consecrated one of his sons, so that he might become his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

7Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was [g]staying there. 8Then the man left the city, Bethlehem in Judah, to [h]stay wherever he would find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. 9Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to [i]stay wherever I may find a place.” 10Micah then said to him, “Stay with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. 11The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12So Micah [j]consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and [k]lived in the house of Micah. 13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest.”